Ark Mechanicus
An Ark Mechanicus is a forge world in miniature, suspended in space, armed and armoured accordingly.
Arks Mechanicus are a class of incredibly large, nigh-mythical starships of the Adeptus Mechanicus Fleet. These ships are said to endlessly search the stars as part of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Quest for Knowledge.
Overview
Led by a venerated Archmagos Explorator, they track down any hint that may lead to the Holy Grail of the Cult Mechanicus: a working Standard Template Construct (STC).[1]
Filled with the best technology that the Adeptus Mechanicus can create, the weapons of an Ark Mechanicus are stronger and longer-ranged than even Imperial Battleships, and their defences are significantly stronger. An Ark Mechanicus class vessel is equipped with a Nova Cannon, four Lance batteries, and two Weapons Batteries. This makes these rarely-seen ships truly mighty opponents on the rare occasions that their journeys are interrupted by battle.[1] An Ark Mechanicus can also be armed with more esoteric weapons, weaponising fundamental interactions of the physical universe like gravitation, electromagentism or the flow of time itself.[16] So valuable is an Ark Mechanicus that the destruction of an entire Forge World, just to reawaken the ship's Machine Spirit is considered a small price to pay[2b] and legends tell of such worlds literally disassembled for parts to make such vessels.[18] The extreme rarity of these venerable ships is such that to discover one intact is a miracle to rival finding a fully functioning STC system, as only a handful of Ark Mechanicus are said to exist.[2b]
At least one Ark Mechanicus, the Speranza, secretly contains a fully functional and still updating STC. Archmagos Lexell Kotov theorized that all Ark Mechanicus secretly contained intact STCs and STC databases, the very things they were sent to find, but the Mechanicus just do not realize it and do not know how to access those functions. The knowledge of the STC was wiped from Kotov's mind upon disconnecting.[2]
Description
An Ark Mechanicus is among the largest ships of any in the Imperium. The extreme mass of one of these vessels creates a distorted gravity field equivalent to that of an unstable moon.[2] Wider than a Dominator class cruiser is long, an Ark Mechanicus contains a hive’s worth of manufactories, refineries, power plants, laboratories, testing ranges, chemical vats, and gene-bays.[2] The engines of these vessels are larger than the full mass of most starships.[2]
Known Vessels
- Archimedes Rex [13]
- Ark Majesty — Flagship of Fabricator General Kubik.[3]
- Asterius Evictus — Flagship of Archmagos Akuminor Xor.[15]
- Caestus Metalican — Flagship of Magos Dominus Faustinius.[11]
- Cursus Majoris — Makes up part of the Space Hulk Krakamorg and contains one of the three Warp Engines that empower it.[14]
- Encoronada — From the Forge World Satzica Secundus. Status: Controlled by the Dark Mechanicum[10]
- Hermetico — The flagship of Archmagos Amarnat. Was lost in the Processional of the Damned.[18]
- Iron Revenant — Former flagship of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl.[8a] Status: Destroyed[8b]
- Kurzgesagt — Former flagship of Lord Explorator Satavic Yuel. Status: Destroyed[16]
- Logos — Flagship of Arch-Dominus Arcophili Zane.[16]
- Omnissiah's Victory — Took part in the Noloptis Crusade (M33).[1]
- Opus Machina — Flagship of Fabricator Locum Engra Myrmidex of Satzica Secundus.[9a] Status: Destroyed[9b]
- Patternmaster — From Segmentum Pacificus Batllegroup 9876 Redeployment Fleet[4][5]
- Pent-Ark — Commanded by Clain Pent of the Dark Mechanicus.[6]
- Recollections of Rust - Dispatched to aid in the Macharian Crusade. Lost in the warp for a significant amount of time during the Noctis Aeterna, but eventually reemerged worse for wear.[19]
- Red Ark — Assigned to Baal. Trapped in the Olethros Space Hulk. Status: Destroyed[12]
- Rex Cogitatus - Dispatched to aid in the Macharian Crusade and was mysteriously lost early on in the crusade.[19]
- Speranza — Flagship of Magos Lexell Kotov[2a]
- Zar-Quaesitor — Flagship of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl[7]
Images
Ark Mechanicus profile
Ark Mechanicus miniature
Caestus Metalican in orbit of Silva Tenebris.[17]
See also
Sources
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- 1: Fanatic Online 92 - Vessels of Mars
Fanatic Press - 2: Priests of Mars (Novel),
[Help]
- 3: The Beheading (Novel), Chapter 5
- 4: Baneblade (Novel), Epilogue
- 5: Shadowsword (Novel), Chapter Three
- 6: The Lost and the Damned (Novel), Chapter 17
- 7: Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work (Novel), Chapter 5
- 8: Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia:
- 9: Adeptus Mechanicus: Skitarius (Novel):
- 10: Adeptus Mechanicus: Tech-Priest (Novel), 1000, DENTRICA I OF I, +NECESSITY BEGETS INVENTION+
- 11: Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus
- 12: Space Hulk: Deathwing (Video Game)
- 13: Nocturne (Novel), Chapter Two, Part I
- 14: Codex: Space Wolves (9th Edition), pg. 16 — War Zone: Jhalheid
- 15: White Dwarf 458, pg. 32
- 16: Dominion Genesis (Novel), Gryphonne IV, Chapter Three
- 17: The Art of Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus, pg. 82
- 18: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Video Game) - Act 4 - Pasqal commenting on the Ark Mechanicus Hermetico
- 19: Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player's Guide, pg. 18
